Khanna in dead heat with rival Mike Honda: Poll.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: Dilip Singh Saund, Bobby Jindal, Ami Bera. Next month, a fourth name could be added to that distinguished trio of Indian Americans who were voted to the US House of Representatives over five decades: Ro Khanna.
Khanna is on his way to one of the biggest upsets of the House races next month, in California’s 17th Congressional district, as he has made a dramatic turnaround and closed a 20-point gap since the June primary, which his rival and incumbent Democratic Congressman Mike Honda pulled away comfortably.
Khanna, a Democrat too, finished second in that race, which qualified him to go head to head in the November polls with Honda, who hopes to make it to Capitol Hill for an eighth term.
The district encompasses large parts of Silicon Valley, including key Silicon Valley cities Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and parts of Fremont.
Following the only recent television debate between the two rivals, it’s clear that the contest has shaped up to be a battle of the old establishment vs. the new energizer bunny, of sifting carefully through claims of who can manage to create more jobs and shape Silicon Valley to its glory days and fuel the national economy too in the process.
And Khanna seems to have the momentum going forward to the finish, even as his war chest of funds has been depleted; a worrying aspect with three weeks left to go for the polls.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that according to a poll of 400 likely voters in the district, conducted October 8-9 by David Binder Research of San Francisco, Honda and Khanna are tied at 38 percent, with 24 percent undecided. The margin of error is 4.9 percentage points.
Khanna’s chief strategist Jeremy Bird, national field director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, said in a memo released Monday that the Binder poll reflects a “tremendous turnaround” for the challenger, who trailed Honda in the June primary, 48 percent to 28 percent.
“These numbers are a clear sign that the more voters hear Ro’s vision for strengthening our economy, fostering innovation and ensuring our children are prepared for the jobs of the future, the more likely they are to vote for new leadership this November,” said Leah Cowan, Khanna’s campaign manager.
Khanna attributed it to his campaign strategy, too.
“…candidly I think that is what is moving the poll numbers. I am out there knocking on doors, doing town halls, going to every forum,” Khanna told KPIX 5. “I am showing up, and he really hasn’t been present in the community.”
And he pointed out that with two democrats running in this race, one of the big challenges is to sway republicans and independents.
“And I think people know that even where I disagree I am willing to listen and to work across the aisle,” Khanna said.
A spokesman for Honda disputed the poll, noting that it was commissioned by the Khanna campaign.
“Their numbers are wholly inconsistent with any other numbers we’ve seen,” said Adam Alberti of Singer Associates, a San Francisco crisis communications firm working with the Honda campaign.
Alberti said the Honda campaign commissioned a poll done last week that showed the congressman leading Khanna by 42 percent to 27 percent. He said that survey’s margin of error was five percentage points.
The Chronicle pointed out that Khanna, an attorney and part-time university lecturer, has been endorsed by several Silicon Valley tech executives in the November 4 election. Honda has the backing of labor and most of the Democratic Party establishment.
Although it may not sway a large number of voters to get off his bandwagon, question of ethics has also riled the Honda campaign, which seems to have gained some traction for Khanna.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Khanna contributor, Karl Mehta, says Honda used the power of his office to bolster his re-election bid.
Mehta, a partner at Menlo Ventures who founded PlaySpan Inc. and sold it to Visa Inc. for $190 million in 2011, says he was invited to a Honda fundraiser in March 2013, just a few weeks after Honda’s office had invited him to a State Department roundtable in February 2013 at Santa Clara University.
“I was very excited about attending the roundtable event, but what was really odd was getting my name on Mike Honda’s (fundraising list) when he and I had no relation in the past,” Mehta, a 43-year-old Fremont resident, was quoted as saying by the News. “It did feel like I was obligated to fund his campaign just because he had invited me to a State Department event.”
Emails leaked recently by a former Honda aide show Honda’s chief of staff, Jennifer Van der Heide, consulted his campaign’s political director, Lamar Heystek, on inviting potential donors to the event. Under the subject line “Suggested South Asian invitees for State Dept. Roundtable,” Heystek wrote that he had compiled “a list of South Asian tech/investment folks who’ve donated to candidates in the past” but not to Honda, said the News report.
Van der Heide responded via her personal email and on her own time: “Great lists — how are we doing outreach to them for $? Can we at least collect emails and send newsletters or something if we can’t do straight asks electronically now? Also do you have the list of the South Asians now endorsing/supporting MH? I want to make sure we are including all of them.”
Khanna says the emails show a mixing of official and campaign events that’s forbidden by House ethics rules; his supporters have requested an Ethics Committee investigation.